Shorthorn 10 year olds blast Los Alamos

Carlsbad Shorthorn’s offense came out swinging from the get-go, blasting Los Alamos 20-1 in four innings in Friday’s 10-year-old sectional tournament opener in Albuquerque.

Coach Josh Quintela said his squad put up its first 10 runs in the first inning alone. As the game went on, Quintela said Shorthorn had multiple sequences where it had back-to-back hits.

“Being the visitors and having the sticks in our hands in the first inning, we just wanted to make a statement and pretty much just break down their defense,” said Quintela, whose squad is coming off an 11-2 district championship victory from last Sunday.

“It’s going to be a pretty tough game for us (Saturday). They have a couple pitchers that are flat fastball pitchers. I feel like we’ll capitalize in early innings on them,” Quintela said.

Carlsbad Shorthorn edges Las Vegas

Shorthorn overcame a 4-1 deficit and gradually chipped away on the scoreboard to win the 12-year-old sectional tournament opener 7-6 Friday in Albuquerque.

Shorthorn coach Tim Estrada said his squad got a big boost from pitcher Nolan Perry in the fourth inning onward, and that Perry was able to settle in and attack the strike zone from there.

Perry then retired six straight Las Vegas hitters during the final two innings, Estrada said.

"Once we brought Nolan in, that kind of stopped (Las Vegas') scoring. He was just throwing right at them, beating them with the fastball and keeping them guessing with the off-speed pitch," Estrada said. "When we bring Nolan in, we expect to win. When we put him on the mound, the defense seems to play a little better."

Estrada said Shorthorn’s lineup “pecked away” at the scoreboard as the game went on, but also mentioned his team managed to stop Las Vegas’ bats in the end.

Brandon Gannoway and Garrett Tucker each had three hits on Friday.

"As we settled into the game, we just kept picking away at the lead," Estrada said.

Shorthorn will play the Albuquerque-Eastdale/Deming winner at 9 a.m. Sunday for the sectional championship.

Estrada said he had Gannoway and Tucker throw a certain number of pitches Friday to where they will be available to throw on Sunday.